E.E. Barnard discovered IC 361 on 10 Oct 1890 with the 6 1/2" refractor at Lick Observatory. He recorded in his logbook, "In 6 1/2 inch it is apparently a very faint nebula between two or three stars. In 12-inch (175x) it is pL, excessively faint and seems to be an excessively faint cluster or extremely faint stars, with possibly some nebulosity - power too high." His simple sketch shows the cluster on line with two 6th magnitude stars to the southwest and the identity is certain. Barnard never published his discovery or notified Dreyer.

William Denning found it again on 11 Feb 1893 with his 10-inch reflector (see The Observatory, 41, 140). On 14 Sep he logged, "Cluster large and faint. It is really a nebula with minute stars strewn about it. With power 252 the nebulous matter vanishes, but power 40 shows it very conspicuously." Denning was credited with the discovery in the IC.

400/500mm - 18" (11/26/03): very faint cloud of partially resolved stars, ~4' in diameter. A number of fairly uniform mag 14-15 stars are just resolved over haze, though it's difficult to tally a total. A brighter 7' string of mag 11-12 stars oriented NW-SE passes along the north edge of the cluster.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb